now, the spending side of the fiscal cliff is the so-called sequester, automatic cuts in federal spending. some say it's the end of western civilization as we know it. it's hardly the case. after a 64% increase in expenditures during this decade, the sequester doesn't actually cut spending at all. it simply limits spending growth next year to about half of a percent. now i opposed the budget deal that created the sequester last year because it fell woefully short of what standard & poor's clearly warned was necessary to help the a.a.a. credit rating. does our defense spending really need to be higher, inflation adjusted, than it was at the height of the vietnam war when we faced down the soviet union and had 500,000 combat troops in the field? the sequester isn't stepping off a cliff. it is taking one step back from the cliff. now, the tax increases, however, are a very different matter. without intervention, the federal tax burden will balloon 1% at the stroke of -- 21% at the stroke of midnight on new year's eve, taking $2,000 to $3,000 from an averaged family. the house passed legislat